Hearts of Ice and Stone
by antiquis scriba
Summary: Having survived the destruction of Arendelle, Elsa and Anna find themselves separated. But just as the Snow Queen sets out to search for her sister, an old foe returns, more powerful, more determined and more insane than ever before. Elsa would do anything to save Anna, but when the time comes, is she ready to pay the ultimate price?


**This is Part II of my 2nd Frozen Fanfic Of Ice and Men. If you would like to read the full story you can find it on my authors page.  
The Story arch for Hearts of Ice and Stone is separate from the storyline for Of Ice and Men, all you need to know you will find in the authors note below:**

**To catch up on the story so far; The outer city of Arendelle is in ruins, ****destroyed by a mysterious group of soldiers during their search for Anna and Elsa. Somehow Elsa managed to survive and found herself waking up in the ruins of her kingdom. To make matters worse Anna was captured and brainwashed by the Duke of Wesselton, A hooded figure, and the Snake, into believing her sister had abandoned her. The brainwashing was undone thanks to some good old Deus Ex Machina, but Anna is still stranded somewhere out in the wilderness.**

**Now, with Arendelle in ruins, and the loss of the princess, other nations turn their eyes towards the weakened country, and an old foe makes a not so surprising return as he seeks to finish what he started and claim Arendelle for himself. Will Anna Elsa and Kristoff survive in a strange new world where everyone is out to get them and nothing is as it seems?**

**P.S. The first chapter is a little shorter than I would like, but the later ones are a bit longer.**

******Anyway, without further ado, Part II:**

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Of Ice and Men Part II: Hearts of Ice and Stone

Chapter 1 Alone?

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Anna found herself standing back in the forest, alone. She looked around, searching for the Snake that had lead her here, but she couldn't find him, it, anywhere. The sun was now high in the sky, rays of light streaming between the tree branches, illuminating patches of the forest floor. Anna breathed in, inhaling a deep breath of the sweet forest air. She smiled at all the animals that flitted between the towering trees and the birds that sang high up in the branches. Filled with confidence she began marching down the path that, umm…  
"Where is the path?" Anna wondered aloud as she searched the forest floor.  
There had definitely been a path here when the Snake was leading her through the forest. Right? Or had she not seen it in the darkness?  
The princess walked twice more around the small clearing, searching for any signs that might give her an indication of which way she came from. After nearly an hour of searching Anna decided that she had to take a risk and just pick one direction to walk in, hoping that it would, eventually, lead her to some form of civilization. She didn't know where she was in relation to her cell, and during her journey Anna's thoughts were constantly plagued by the possibility that she was walking right back to the place she had been trying to escape from. Nonetheless, Anna walked on. She walked through the forest, between the massive trees, over mossy boulders and small forest brooks. Anna kept walking and walking, ignoring the pain in her feet that grew and grew as she moved forward. After several hours of walking Anna reached another clearing, very similar to the first. She looked up at the blood red sky, as she watched the sun sink below the horizon. Soon the temperature would begin to drop and she would start to freeze. Anna knew she had to find shelter soon or she would not make it through the night. She quickly gathered up several of the sticks and twigs that lay scattered around the clearing she found herself in, piling them up in the mouth of a small cave. As the last few rays of sunlight disappeared, throwing the world into darkness, Anna struggled to start a fire in the small pile of sticks she had painstakingly gathered. For the longest time there was nothing, then, suddenly, a spark. Just for a moment there was a soft glow before the night air extinguished the small spark and allowed darkness to once again reclaim the night. Anna furrowed her brow, determined to best the darkness and the cold that was now starting to take hold of her. She rubbed the sticks together once more, faster and faster until she saw another spark. But she wouldn't stop this time, so she continued until more and more sparks came from the sticks. These tiny sparks merged and grew, igniting the dry branches and twigs, until they grew into a roaring fire. The princess huddled around this valuable heat source, looking out at the starry night sky, wondering if her sister would come for her.

Elsa opened her eyes, she was standing in back in the doorway that led into the castle's ballroom. She stood there for a moment, going over the conversation she and Anna had in the Library. Elsa could sense that something was wrong, things felt, off somehow. She just couldn't put her finger on it. The queen of Arendelle furrowed her brow as she walked through the empty ballroom, thinking about the occurrences of the past few days. The sunlight streamed through the giant windows at the far wall of the ballroom as Elsa strolled across the smooth wood floor. She headed for the doors at the end of the ballroom, throwing them open and marching out into the, now ruined, castle courtyard. The sight of the courtyard was almost unbearable, the last few fires had already turned into smoldering heaps of charcoal, sending thin trails of smoke into the air. Scorched bricks where all that remained of most of the houses. Elsa spotted Kristoff amongst the wreckage of the city, directing the people who were searching the remains for any survivors. She walked over to him as he and three other men pushed aside a charred crossbeam. Elsa recoiled slightly when the men removed the crossbeam and uncovered the body of a small child, she must have been buried when the building collapsed. Kristoff stepped back in surprise, tripping over a piece of debris and tumbling to the ground. He quickly got up when he saw the Queen of Arendelle standing over him. He brushed the dirt from his clothing as he pushed himself up off the floor. Elsa continued staring at the body as two men came to take it away. Kristoff put his hand on Elsa's shoulder.  
"It's… There's…" He stuttered slightly, trying to find the right words.  
"There's nothing you could have done." He told her solemnly, quickly adding "It all just happened too fast."

Elsa hung her head, fighting back against the burning desire to just sink down on the spot and cry. The Snow Queen clenched her fist, sending icy sparks falling to the floor. No, she would not rest until they found Anna. With new resolve, Elsa turned to Kristoff.  
"Ready as many men as we can spare. We're going to find Anna." Her voice was set and determined.  
"Yes sir, ah sorry, ma'am." Kristoff replied, bowing, before turning around to fetch some of the guards.  
Midway through his turn he stopped.  
"We?" He asked, cautiously.  
Elsa straightened up, icy flurries spinning around her. Her demeanor changed as the ice began spreading across her body. It quickly formed into a protective layer that coated Elsa. She stepped out of her little ice storm, looking like a completely different person. In her hand she held her ice staff, and her head and shoulders were coated in semitransparent sheets of frozen armor that jutted out into frightening spikes, and a thin icy cloak fluttered behind her. Despite her frozen appearance her eyes blazed with a fiery determination.  
"Yes Kristoff, we. She is my sister, I will find her again."  
With that Elsa stormed back into the castle. Pausing only to give Kristoff one final order before slamming the castle doors closed behind her.  
"Have the horses ready by sundown, we leave tonight."  
Great, Kristoff thought to himself, through the forest at night. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Kristoff turned towards the men when suddenly, out of the corner, he thought he caught a glimpse of something, he looked again to get a better look, but whatever it was had disappeared. He shrugged his shoulders and went to search for any guards that would be willing to ride with them. As he walked away one of the bricks on the pile that used to signify a house shifted, rolling down the heap of debris. But before the little chunk of stone could get very far a hand reached out and grabbed it, setting it gently down onto the cobble road. Between the broken boards and crumbled rocks a pair of crimson eyes glowed brightly.

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**Hope you enjoy Part II so far, if you have any suggestions for improvements please feel free to leave them in a review.  
I will be releasing each new chapter every other week.**


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